Heating and air conditioning system



July 4, 1939. J. T. NORMAN HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed March 50, 1938 Jose 1 7 Nofrnan Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM both of Shickshinny,

Application March 30,

9 Claim.

My invention relates to the art of heating buildings and it especially relates to so-called hot air heating systems.

Primarily the invention has for an object to provide means operating as an adjunct or auxiliary to the common hot air furnace for conserving fuel by increasing the effective heat that can be obtained from a given unit of fuel, be it coal, oil or gas.

Again, it is an object to provide apparatus, operative in conjunction with the usual hot air furnace, for extracting and utilizing practically all of the heat from the products of combustion which is ordinarily wasted up the chimney.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above-mentioned characteristics which can be used as air cooler in the summertime.

Again, it is an object to provide an apparatus 20 as above described which has provisions for humidifying the air as may be desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an auxiliary apparatus as above specified which can be manufactured and in- 25 stalled at low cost and which will be automatic and safe in its operation.

Further, it is an object to provide an apparatus of the characteristics above described, of a simple, efficient construction, which will readily 30 serve its intended purposes at a very low running cost and which, when employed with liquid fuel burner furnaces, gas burner furnaces or furnaces with automatic stokers, may be controlled by and- 45 appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section largely diagrammatic (i. e., not drawn to scale) showing one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, showing another embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing, in which like numbers and letters of reference designate like parts in all the figures, I represents a suitable casing which is 55 divided into several chambers by partitions 2, 3,

1938, Serial No. 199,052

.6 and I, the chambers 4 serving as float chambers, the chambers 5 and 8 serving as washing and humidifying chambers, and the chamber ll serving as a cooling chamber at times and as a mere passage chamber at other times.

The chamber 4 at one end of the casing communicates, at the bottom, with chamber 8 through a duct I I, while chamber 8 communicates with chamber I through a duct 3 whose entrance is at the top of chamber 8 and whose exit is at the bottom of chamber Ill.

The chamber communicates, at the bottom, with the adjacent chamber 4 but does not communicate with any of the other chambers of the casing I.

Water is supplied, automatically to maintain a definite level, to chambers 4 from supply pipes l2 through float-controlled valves l3. Suitable drain cocks l4 are provided where necessary for clean-out purposes.

The usual hot air furnace with which my invention is cooperatively associated includes a center casting l6 which encloses the ash-pit I 3, grate l9 and combustion chamber or fuel-pot II; it also includes an outer jacket l5 which is spaced from the casting IE to form the air heating chamber of the furnace, from which chamber the hot I air outlets 48 run. Cool air is admitted to the jacket in any of the ways usual to hot-air furnaces, as for example through an opening suitably located near the bottom of the furnace in wall l5, which communicates with the air in the room in which the furnace is situated.

The smoke outlet which is usually of relatively large crosssectional area and is usually directly piped to the chimney for natural draft, is, when my invention is used, capped at 23 and a reduction T 24 is connected thereto. One branch of the T 24 connects to the pipe 2i that delivers into the chimney 22 and is controlled by a counterbalanced valve 26.

A fire screen 21 may be used to prevent sparks entering the chimney when the furnace is operating under natural draft, as will more fully appear later.

Mounted on the casing I is a centrifugal pump or blower 29, driven by a motor and whose outlet side is connected by pipe 28 to the chimney pipe 2| between the valve 26 and screen 21 and whose intake side is connected with chamber I by a connection 3!. A baffle 32 keeps water from being drawn up into pipe 3i.

A third branch of the T 24 connects to a coil 33 in a chamber formed between two drums 34 and 35. The coil 33 connects to a pipe 38 running into chamber and having a. f'oramineus portion 3? submerged beneath the water inthut char er.

one chamber between the drums receives the return air from the rooms Bi -3 eta, through ducts 38. his air is then washed by being drawn through pipes to (having immersed foraminous portions 4i) into chamber 8 and from thence into chamber it? via duct 8. From the chamber to the washed air is drawn through. pipe M and pumped by the centrifugal pump or blower t2 (driven by motor 43) through pipe as into the hollow drum 34, from whence it is forced through warm air duct 39 to the rooms.

In passing through drums 35 and 34 the air is warmed by the heat given off by coil II. The initially warmed air, passing from drum 3! into chamber 8, takes up a required amount of moisture or water vapor from chamber 8 to properly humidify the air. The hot gases passing through chamber 5 give off their heat to the water in chamber 5 and the smoke and ash dust are deposited in or absorbed by the water in chamber 5.

The warmed water in chamber 5 also aids (by conduction through wall 6) in heating the water in chamber 8 and thereby imparts additional heat to the air passing through chamber I. In this way all the heat is extracted from the products of combustion and imparted to the air to be heated.

The air jacket i5 of the furnace functions as before, and the heated air therein is passed through the usual registers, via 48, to the rooms. The pipe 39 may, if desired, be connected to discharge into jacket l5 and its hot air added to that in jacket 15 to pass up the usual ducts 48.

The T 24 is preferably asbestos covered, or otherwise heat-insulated, as at 50.

A baffle 46 may be used in chamber iii if desired.

A portion of the washed gases of combustion may, if desired, be passed through a pipe 49, controlled by a valve 50, to the furnace below the grate to aid combustion since the gases in passing through the water and vapors in chamber 5 take up considerable oxygen.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2 is simply a modification of that shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 those parts which correspond in purpose to similar or like parts in Fig. I bear the same reference number plus the index letter a. In this figure the coil 33 surrounds the casing I 6 of the furnace and a jacket 35' is placed within the normal hot air space around the coil. In this form, It takes the place of 34 in Fig. 1. In winter cooling coil unit 41 may be omitted or rendered functionally inoperative. When motor is energized, the products of combustion are drawn from the fire chamber of the furnace through outlet 20 and via pipe 5| to coil 33 through which the gases are drawn and from which coil they pass through pipe 36' into the chamber 5 and are washed and their heat extracted by the liquid in that chamber. The washed and cooled gases then pass to pump 29' and are delivered by the pump through duct 28 into the smoke pipe 2i to the chimney.

At the same time valve 26 will be closed by the suction in pipes ti -25 so the gases cannot pass directly to pipe 2|.

When motor 43"- is energized, it causes air to be drawn from jacket over coil 33", through duct MI via washer chamber 8 and chamber Ill to 8% from which the washed and properly humidified air (additionally heated heat exchange between the in 8 via the walls of the i etc.) is into the space between walls 535 and furnace. from which the heated and him air via 43 to the rooms to be heated, return air passing through ducts 3& back into jacket 35.

When motor 35 stops, the natural chimney draft will cause the furnace gases to pass through it and 25* to stack connection fil opening the valve 26 Fump 28, now being idle, serves, to gether with the duct resistances, as a stop against the flow of the gases via 33, 36*, 5*, 3i, 2B- to the stack.

In the summertime, when the furnace is out, the pump motor 30 is usually disconnected from its circuit and remains idle. By placing a cooling coil or cooling unit 41 in chamber In and running pump 42 alone, the system becomes an air conditioning system, the air being cooled and moistened to the desired degree. While the cooling unit 41 will not ordinarily be used in winter while the furnace is running, nevertheless it may be used even in winter to assist in regulating the temperature of the air. For instance, it is known that a coal fire burning under forced draft does not instantly cool down when the drafts are closed. During the cooling interval it may become desirable to cause a sudden drop in the air temperature (as when the house has become too warm because of too high a thermostat adjustment); so by turning on the cooling unit for a few minutes, while the fire cools down, the hot air from the air receiving chamber (heated by coil 33 or 33) can be cooled down before being pumped into the air delivering chamber. This is particularly advantageous where the furnace used is a so-called pipeless furnace, or where the cool air is not drawn in from the outside of the building. The cooling unit may also be used to advantage in winter or spring when a sudden rise in the outside temperature causes the house to become too warm before the heat of the furnace can be otherwise controlled.

When the pump (30 or 30) is idle, valve 26 (or 26') will open under the natural draft of the chimney and thus a slow fire will be maintained in the furnace.

The numerous advantages of the invention will, from the foregoing, be evident to those skilled in the art.

I wish it understood that changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may readily be made by those skilled in the art to adapt the auxiliary apparatus to the particular environment in which it is to be installed, all within the spirit of the invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a heating system employing a stack and a. hot air furnace, the combination with the hot air furnace having a heat generating chamber surrounded by an air heating chamber with hot air outlet ducts and having a smoke outlet, an auxiliary apparatus comprising a casing, partitions in said casing dividing it into a. plurality of chambers, said chambers containing water and being located in heat exchange relation to one another,

a. pair of drums, one enclosing the other to provide two drum chambers, means to conduct cool air into one of said drum chambers, means towith respect to said drum chambers to heat the air as it passes through the same, a duct connecting one end of said coil to said smoke outlet to receive the products of combustion of the furnace, a branch from said duct to the stack, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, a pipe connected to the other end of said coil and having its discharge end immersed in the water in one of said casing chambers, a pump for drawing the products of combustion from the furnace through said duct,

said coil and said pipe, and forcing the same into the chimney, and means to draw the air from one drum chamber through the water in the other chamber of said casing to wash the air and deliver it into the other drum chamber.

2. In a heating system employing a stack and a hot air furnace, the combination with the hot air furnace having a heat generating chamber surrounded by an air heating chamber with hot air outlet ducts and having a smoke outlet, an auxiliary apparatus comprising a casing, partitions in said casing dividing it into a plurality of chambers, said chambers containing water and being located in heat exchange relation to one another, a pair of drums, one enclosing the other to provide two drum chambers, means to conduct cool air into one of said drum chambers, means to deliver heated air from the other of said drum chambers, a heating coil cooperatively located with respect to said drum chambers to heat the air as it passes through the same, a duct connecting one end of said coilto said smoke outlet to receive the products of combustion of the furnace, a branch from said duct to the stack, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, a pipe connected to the other end of said coil and having its discharge end immersed in the water in one of said casing chambers, a pump for drawing the products of combustion from the furnace through said duct, said coil and said pipe, and forcing the same into the chimney, means to draw the air from one drum chamber through the water in the other chamber of said casing to wash the air and de liver it into the other drum chamber, and means to pass some of the products of combustion from the pump to the furnace below the grate thereof.

3. In a heating system employing a stack and a hot air furnace, the combination with the hot air furnace having a heat generating chamber surrounded by an air heating chamber with hot air outlet ducts and having a smoke outlet, an auxiliary apparatus comprising a casing, partitions in said casing dividing it into a plurality of chambers, said chambers containing Water and being located in heat exchange relation to one another, a pair of drums, one enclosing the other to provide two drum chambers, means to conduct cool air into one of said drum chambers, means to deliver heated air from the other of said drum chambers, a heating coil cooperatively located with respect to said drum chambers to heat the air passing through the same, a duct connecting one end of said coil to said smoke outlet to receive the products of combustion of the furnace; a branch from said duct to the stack, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, a pipe connected to the other end of said coil and having its discharge end immersed in the water in one of said casing chambers, a pump for drawing the products of combustion from the furnace through said duct, said coil and said pipe, and forcing the same into the chimney, means to draw the air from one drum chamber through the water in the otherchaminto the other drum chamber, said automatic valve comprising a balanced valve operable by the difierences of pressure generated on its two sides.

4. An auxiliary apparatus for use with hot air furnaces to condition the air of a building as to temperature and humidity, said apparatus comprising a casing divided by partitions into a plurality of chambers, means to maintain water in two of said chambers, said two chambers being adjacentand in heat exchange relation to one another, a suction pump for withdrawing gases from one of said water-containing chambers, a smoke and gas conveying duct whose entrant end is constructed to connect to the smoke outlet of the furnace and whose exit end delivers the products of combustion below the water level in .said one of said water-containing chambers, a

duct for connecting the outlet side of said pump to a chimney, said smoke and gas conveying duct including a heating coil, and means to draw air over said heating coil and pass it into and through the water in the other of said water-containing chambers and for withdrawing the washed and hutnidified air from said-other of said waterconveying chambers and delivering it into the building, said water-containing chambers being in heat-exchange relation to one another.

5. In heating and air conditioning systems, a hot air furnace comprising an inner shell having a smoke outlet, a pipe coiled around said shell and having one end connected to said smoke outlet, a branch from the connection adjacent the smoke outlet and leading to a chimney, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, said furnace including a second shell surrounding said coiled pipe and spaced from the first shell to constitute an air receiving chamber and a third shell surrounding the second shell and spaced from the same to constitute an air delivering chamber, a suction pump, a duct connecting the intake side of said pump with the other end of said coiled pipe, a duct connecting the outlet side of said pump with the chimney beyond the location of said valve, means in said duct between the coiled pipe and said pump for washing and cooling the products of combustion before they reach the pump, and means to draw air into said air-receiving chamber and thereafter pass it into said air delivering chamber, said last named means including a pump and a duct and means in said last named duct in heat exchange relation with said washing means to condition the air as it passes from the air receiving chamber to the air delivering chamber.

6. In heating and air conditioning systems, a hot air furnace comprising an inner shell having a smoke outlet, a pipe coiled around said shell and having one end connected to said smoke outlet, a branch from the connection adjacent the smoke outlet and leading to a chimney, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, said furnace including a second shell surrounding said coiled pipe and spaced from the first shell to constitute an air receiving chamber and a third shell surrounding the second shell and spaced from the same to constitute an air delivering chamber, a suction pump, a duct connecting the intake side of said pump with the other end of said coiled pipe, a duct connecting the outlet side of said pump with the chimney beyond the location of said valve, means in said duct between the coiled pipe and said pump for washing and cooling the products of combustion before they reach the pump, and means to draw air into said air receiving chamber and thereafter pass it into said air delivering chamber, said last named means including means to condition the air as it passes from the air receiving chamber to the air delivering chamber, said'conditioning means including a pump and a duct including an air washer in heat-exchange relation to said washer for the products of combustion.

'7. In heating and air conditioning systems, a. hot air furnace comprising an inner shell having a smoke outlet, a pipe coiled around said shell and having one end-connected to said smoke outlet, a branch from the connection adjacent the smoke outlet and leading to a chimney, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, said furnace including a second shell surrounding said coiled pipe and spaced from the first shell to constitute an air receiving chamber and a third shell surrounding the second shell and spaced from the same to constitute an air delivering chamber, a suction pump, a duct connecting the intake side of said pump with the other end of said coiled pipe, a duct connecting the outlet side of said pump with the chimney beyond the location of said valve, means in said duct between the coiled pipe and said pump for washing and cooling the products of combustion before they reach the pump, a suction pump and a duct to withdraw air from said air receiving chamber and force it into said air delivering chamber, and means in said last named duct and in heat exchange relation to said washer for the products of combustion to condition 'such air during its passage from one chamber to the other.

8. In heating and air conditioning systems, a hot air furnace comprising an inner shell having a smoke outlet, a pipe coiled around said shell and having one end connected to said smoke outlet, a branch from the connection adjacent the smoke outlet and leading to a chimney, an automatic valve controlling passage of gases through said branch, said furnace including a second shell surrounding said coiled pipe and spaced. from the first shell to constitute an air receiving chamber and a third shell surrounding the second shell and spaced from the same to constitute an air delivering chamber, a suction pump, a duct connecting the intake side of said pump with the other end of said coiled pipe, a duct connecting the outlet side of said pump with the chimney beyond the location of said valve, means in said duct between the coiled pipe and said pump for washing and cooling the products of combustion before they reach the pump and a duct, a suction pump to withdraw air from said air receiving chamber and force it into said air delivering chamber, and means to condition such air during its passage from one chamber to the other, said conditioning means including an air washer in heat-exchange relation with the means for washing the products of combustion.

9. In combination with a. hot-air furnace having a combustion chamber and an air chamber in heat exchange relation to the combustion chamber, a closed water reservoir, means to maintain a constant level of water in said reservoir, a smoke pipe for connection to a chimney stack, a suction-blower whose receiving side is connected with said reservoir above the water level therein, a duct including a heating coil, one end of said duct being connected with said combustion chamber and the other end of said duct being submerged in the water in said reservoir and discharging therein, a branch pipe connected to said duct between the furnace and the coil and delivering into said smoke pipe, a balanced valve in said smoke pipe for cooperation with said branch pipe to close the outlet end of the same when a negative pressure occurs in said branch pipe and when a back pressure occurs in said smoke pipe, a second closed water reservoir in heat-exchange relation with the first water reservoir, means for circulating air over said coil and through the water in said second-mentioned water reservoir to condition the air, and means to maintain a definite water level in said second-mentioned water reservoir, the discharge side of said blower being connected to deliver into said smoke pipe at a place beyond the location of said balanced valve.

JOSEPH T. NORMAN. 

